Fraser Nimmo

Fraser Nimmo

Fraser Nimmo is a Scottish songwriter and performer known for songs that range across personal and social themes, delivered on guitar and banjo. He writes and performs original material alongside songs from the Scottish tradition, and treats the two as closely connected. His style combines humour, conviction and strong instrumental technique.

Career and touring

Nimmo performs widely in Europe and beyond, with tours in Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Middle East, Canada and the Canary Islands. He appears at festivals including Cambridge and Edinburgh, and he is invited to join Fairport Convention as a special guest on their 30th anniversary tour of Britain. These appearances help establish his reputation as one of Scotland’s widely travelled musical ambassadors.

Collaborations and recordings

He works extensively with Dutch-based Canadian guitarist Ian Bolens on the European folk circuit. Their first album together, Cianalas, appears in 2003. Bolens plays six- and twelve-string guitar and adds a range of tunings and harmonic textures to Nimmo’s songs. Their live performances closely match the recorded versions, and their set combines Scottish traditional songs, original compositions, humour and fast acoustic playing.

Selected discography

Nimmo’s discography includes Everybody’s Tears with Maartin Allcock in 1993, a live video from the Edinburgh Festival in 1996, Heavy Weather with Maartin Allcock in 1997, a live CD from touring with Fairport Convention as special guest in 2001, and Cianalas in 2003.